Lecture 22 - Media and the Fertility Transition in Developing Countries (Guest Lecture by William Ryerson)

Guest lecturer William Ryerson is President of the Population Media Center which produces radio and TV serial dramas in developing countries that aim to effect behavior change on women's status, family planning and AIDS. Working with governments and in-country media professionals, these melodramas run for hundreds of episodes and are watched by millions. Careful research shows major changes in audience knowledge, attitudes and practices. Reading assignment: Rogers, Vaughan, Rao Swalehe and Sood Svenkerud. "Effects of an Entertainment-Education Radio Soap Opera of Family Planning Behavior in Tanzania." Studies in Family Planning, no. 30 (1999), pp. 193-211